Motor driven ice skate



Sept. 2, 1941. o. F. RUSSELL 2,254,320

MOTOR DRIVEN ICE SKATE Filed March 25, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l lm entar are T Wu .sse

p 1941- o. F. RUSSELL 2,254,320

' MOTOR DRIVEN ICE SKATE Filed March 25, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Inventor 07.2 7-. 7x636 Attorney Patented Sept. 2, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE MOTOR DRIVEN ICE SKATE Oren F. Russell, Palmer, Wash.

Application March 25, 1941, Serial No. 385,161

3 Claims.

. The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in ice skates and has for its primary object to provide drive means for the skates embodying a spiral screw mounted at the lower portion of the skate for engaging the ice or other surface over which the skate is traveling and providing a drive connection between the screw and a motor mounted at the rear of the skate for driving the skate over the surface.

A further object of the present invention is to provide adjustable means for the screw by means of which the engagement of the screw with the surface of the ice may be regulated.

A still further object is to provide a skate of this character of simple and practical construc-' tion, which is efficient and reliable in performance, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects-and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, refer: ence being had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which- Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the ice skate showing the drive screw mounted in position thereon,

Figure 21s a bottom plan view,

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the spiral screw providing the propelling means for the skate,

Figure 4 is'a sectional view taken substantially on a line 4-4 of Figure 1, I

Figure 5 is a'horizontal sectional view through one of the adjustable bearing supports for the screw, and

Figure 6 is a detail of one of the bearings for the shaft of the screw.

Referring now to-the drawings in detail, where in for the purpose of illustration I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention, the

numeral 5 designates an ice skate which includes the blade 6 formed of front and rear sections 1 and 8;respectively, having their adjacent ends spaced apart as shown to advantage in Figure 1 of the drawings.

Secured to the blade in position between the rear end of the front section I and thefront end of the rear section 8 is a spiral screw shield 9 blade sections is a front bearing guide I0 and a.

rear bearing guide ll, each of the guides being enclosed in a housing l2 and formed with a pair of vertically extending opposed grooves l2 within which bearing supporting blocks l3 are slidably mounted. Embedded in each of the blocks I3 is a trunnion M, the trunnions projecting outwardly from diametrically opposite sides of a bearing l5within which the shaft iii of a spiral screw H is journalled. The end of the shaft at the front end of the screw is journalled in the front bearing block l0 while the rear end'of the screw is journalled in the rearbearing block H;

A stud l8 projects upwardly from the bearing l5 and over which is positioned the lower end of a coil spring I 9, the coil spring extending upwardly and has its upper end engaged by a stud 20 formed on the lower end of a head 2| of an adjusting screw 22 which projects upwardly through the top of the housing l2. The top of the shield 9 is formed with a slot 29 providing access to the screws 22. The adjusting screws 22 may thus be employed for adjusting the spiral sc'rew vertically to regulate its engagement with the ice over which the skate is travelling.

A sectional shaft 23 is attached to the rear end of the shaft l6 by means of a universal connection 24, the shaft 23 being journalled in a housing 25 secured to the side of the rear section 8 of the blade. The rear end of the shaft section 23 is provided with an extension shaft 26 also connected to the section 23 by, a universal coupling'2l, the extension 26 beingadapted for connection with the drive shaft of a motor, such as an internal combustion engine adapted for mounting on a platform 28 projecting rearwardly from the rear section 8 of the blade.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the spiral screw I! may be driven by the motor at the rear of the skate and thus serve to'propel the skate for rdly.

It is be eved the details of construction, advantages andmanner of use of the device will be readily understood from the foregoing without further detailed explanation.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. A motor driven ice skate comprising a spiral screw, means for rotatably mounting the screw on a horizontal longitudinal axis on the blade of the skate, means for vertically adjusting the screw and a motor drivendrive shaft operatively connected to the screw.

2. A motor driven ice skate comprisingaspiral screw having a shaft at each end, a bearing for each shaft, a guide for each bearing carried by the blade of the skate, means for vertically adrespective bearings, a driven shaft operatively connected to the screw, means for securing the bearings in vertically adjusted position and a shield for the screw attached to the skate and having an opening therein providing access to said bearing adjusting means.

OREN F. RUSSELL. 

